100 Marching Drabbles
by Shewhodanceswithdragons
Summary: The 100 theme challenge with a marching band twist! Includes colorguard, percussion, woodwinds, and brass! Halarious and sad, short and long, kid friendly and R-rated, there will always be something going on with the Oak Point Marching Stallions!
1. 1 Introduction

_Well, most of you know that there's a 100 fan fiction/art theme floating around out there. Well, I decided to do the original thing and base mine on marching band. These drabbles will be of varying length and rating, and will follow the adventures of Emma, a color guard member of the Oak Point Marching Stallions. These characters are based on real people that I know in real life, but names have been changed to protect me-I mean, them. They will also range from her sophomore year to her senior year. Here's the cast of characters._

_Emma Wilson- Color guard member. Tall, big boned, kinda plain brown eyed girl, quiet until you get to know her. A curly haired blonde, but in no way ditzy. Her straight As prove that._

_Blaine Prosser- A year older than Emma but in the same grade, he's a member of the pit. He was in the middle school stage crew for a year with Emma, but got kicked out. He also called her 'dupey' for sixth and seventh grade, but stopped for unknown reasons in 8th. He has whiteish blonde hair and bluish eyes._

_Mr. Goldstown- The band director of the Oak Point Marching Stallions. Called 'G' by his students. At first glance he looks like a college student, but call him that and you'll be running laps._

_Those are the main characters, but I will be introducing more as these progress._

**Prompt:** # 01 Introduction  
**Word Count:** 526  
**Rating: **G  
**Authoress Warnings/Notes:** In here they're in their freshman year and it's their first day of band camp.

* * *

Mr. G stood on the stage, surveying the crowd of young faces. He frowned as two guard freshies arrived late. When they had sat down and the chatter had subsided, he began. 

"So. This is your first day of band camp. ARE YOU EXCITED!?!?!?!" The response was a little less than enthusiastic. "Still asleep, I see. I said, ARE YOU EXCITED?!?!?!?!?!" That time was a little better, but still less than desired. "Returning members, what happens when you put less than 150 into anything you do?"

"Laps."

"That's right. And this year we've lengthened the distance, so, ARE YOU EXCITED!?!?!?!?" That time the roar threatened to push him against the wall. "Thank you. This is the beginning of a commitment. Seniors, for you this will be your last year. For freshies, this may be the beginning of four years in band. I expect you to put your heart, soul, mind, and body into this organization. But I also expect you to have fun while doing so. Any questions?"

A guard freshman in the front tentatively. "What tempo is the show at?"

"What part?"

"All of it." She flushed as snickers where heard behind her. A couple rows behind her, a pit freshie rolled his eyes. He could see her baseball capped head with the ponytail sticking out of it lowering in shame and humiliation. He suddenly felt a stab of pity for her, and elbowed the his friends under the pretense that Mr G. was talking again.

"Any more questions? No? Good. Go out to the field. It's time to learn some drill."

* * *

**_ WARNING!!!! FLAMES WILL BE GIVEN TO DRAGONS TO HUNT YOU DOWN AND BURN YOU!!!_**


	2. 12 Insanity

_**Prompt:** #12 Insanity_

_**Word Count:** 498_

_**Rating: **PG-13_

_**Authoress Notes/Warnings:** Aw, no one liked the last chapter?_

_Yes, our percussion does actually do this to 'Sandstorm' (© DDR). It's very…interesting to watch the boys do these. +evil horny grin+ Unfortunately, what Blaine does to Emma has never happened to me. Takes place their junior year._

_Tyro is a snare player that was under 5 feet in his freshman year._

_Vanna is a member of the color guard who was also under 5 feet in her freshman year.  
_

* * *

The band room was as dark as the night outside. But that didn't matter to the people inside of it, for they had glow sticks to light their way. The floor had been cleared for the mass of bodies dancing. Perhaps 'dancing' was the wrong word for it. The percussion had gathered in the middle of the crowd and was celebrating their victory by mimicking ancient rituals while raving to 'Sandstorm'. From the middle of the group, a junior pit member saw a strange sight from the corner of his eye. It was a junior guard member. 

She was wearing tight black pants and her curly blonde hair bounced against her black turtleneck. With a start he noticed that she was wearing something she hadn't worn since she had been drafted to prop movers in their freshmen year. Black makeup. Her eyes shimmered like the midnight sky. Her lips had been painted with onyx lipstick. Her glowstick around her neck bounced along with…other things as she…

He blinked. She was doing the Irish Jig to Sandstorm. But looking at her, he could see that she had changed since the days in elementary school when she would bug him on the way home from school.

Her legs were longer than ever, and all of her puppy fat had melted over the years, due to the hours of jazz running, tossing, and running back to sets. She had bloomed because of band. He knew it was insanity to think so, and knew what he was about to do was even more insane. He signaled the rest of the boys, and they suddenly broke and went into the crowd. He saw Tyro, no longer the small snare player, scoop up Vanna in his arms and set her on his shoulders. He spotted Emma and did the same thing.

She shrieked as she felt herself being lifted up. "What the hell-Blaine! Put me down now!" He paid her no heed. It was insanity to think so. He had hated her since elementary school. But as she looked around, perched on his shoulders, she saw others like herself and Blaine. Percussion carrying guard. Brass carrying woodwinds. Enemies attracting. Rivalries forgotten. But it was just insanity. Tomorrow things would be the same. He let himself get lost in the insanity, to try and stop the sun from dawning, to keep the insanity. For it made him sane.

* * *

+Blinks+ I had no idea it would get that…intense and deep at the end. 

Please review!


	3. 9 Drive

_**Prompt:** #9 Drive_

_**Word count:** 81_

_**Rating:** G_

_**Authoress Notes/Warnings:** Quarterback abuse._

_**Music listened to:** Chaiya Chaiya: h t t p/ w w w. youtube. c o m / watch ? v A O O l g b f F y 3 k_

_Remove the spaces._

_To Sparkly: It's not really white; it's just like a really light blonde. Like Draco Malfoy's hair. Thanks for your review!  
_

* * *

Horrors of horrors. She was learning to drive. Surprisingly, she wasn't that bad. Maybe her parents had shown her. _But_, he thought wirily as she narrowly dodged the drumline, _she still has to work on her sharp turns. _He cringed as a loud collision was heard. 

"Sorry!"

And that was how the star quarterback got run over by a guardie. The cast'll come off in four to eight weeks. Luckily he was just coming off the field and was wearing padding…

* * *

+Blinks+ That was short. 


	4. 65 Horror

_**Prompt #: **65 Horror_

_**Word** **count: **228  
_

_**Rating: **PG-13_

_**Authoress Notes/Warning: **Some swearing and threatening freshmen_.

_**EDIT:**__ Oops, wrong theme number. Sorry. ;_

* * *

She looked on with horror as two of the brass freshies fought with two of the metal sabers. 

The next thing they knew they were on the ground with a pissed off guard senior glaring at them. Someone snickered from where the pit was making small repairs, but she ignored it.

"If I EVER see you touching any saber again, I'll take those trombones of yours and shove them so far up your ass your slide'll come out of your mouth! Got it!?" She glared at them one final time before stalking out of the band room, presumably to release some anger by tossing.

"Dudes, you should know by now. Never. Touch. Their. Stuff. Unless you're a ninth-level blackbelt in multiple martial arts. And until you are, don't touch their stuff. Don't look at it, don't breathe at it, don't even THINK about it." And with that the drum major hopped off the cart and picked up the sabers. _And to think this is only the first day of band camp, _he thought.

As he was heading out the door with the swords tucked under his arm, he heard one of them call out.

"Why do YOU get to touch them without fear of being killed?"

Without turning he called, "because she's my girlfriend."


	5. 81 Pen and Paper

**Prompt #: **88 Pen and Paper

**Word Count:** 1260

**Rating: **PG for warm and fluffy feelings, plus some teenager hornyness

**Authoress Notes: **Sorry for not updating for so long. XD;;;; I've been…busy with school and stuff. Anyway, school gets out on June 8th, so I'll be on more, I hope. But I dunno, cause I'm trying to find a job and I'm doing rifle this season (Or at least I will if I stop dropping every time I spin or try to toss.) OH! In this one, they're juniors.

I hate everything about you © Three Days Grace

The Ding Dong Song © Günther

McDonalds © Whoever owns it

* * *

At 5:05, Blaine looked into the band room and saw Emma sitting against the wall, books and papers scattered around her in an organized mess, her head bent over one of her books, deep in thought. Adjusting his backpack strap over his shoulder, he walked in, heart pounding so loud he thought that she should be able to hear it. Then he saw that she was wearing headphones, and laughed quietly to himself. 

He walked past where she was stationed, looking into the band director's office to support the guise that he was looking for Mr. Goldstown.

"He's not here." He turned and looked at Emma, who was still bent over her book. "He went out to McDonalds to get something to get himself an iced coffee, and left me to hold down the fort," she turned a page. "What do you need?"

"Nothing, I was just wondering if he knew where Kate put the percussion music from the '06 field show." He sat down a few feet from her and opened up his backpack, pulling out his geometry homework, "but it isn't absolutely imperative that I have it today, it can wait." He searched through his backpack, cursing when he couldn't find a pencil or paper. "Hey, can I borrow a few pieces of paper and a pencil?"

She looked up, startled. "Pardon? Oh, sure." Opening up her binder, she pulled out a few pieces of paper and a pencil. "Here you go."

"Thanks." He watched as she buried herself back in her book, lips moving as she either mouthed the words to the song she was listening to, or repeating something to ensure that it remained in her memory. If he strained, he fancied that he could hear the music that was pouring into her ears.

'_Only when I start to think about it…I hate everything about you, why do I love you?"_

"Three Days Grace, nice." He was glad when she looked up and made eye contact with him. 'Those dark brown eyes…A man could drown in them. Or at least think of chocolate. Yummm….her and chocolate. Or rather, chocolate ON her. Oops, getting off subject. Must recover so I don't look like a fool…Am I drooling?'

"Sorry, is it too loud? I can always turn it down." He felt a flash of alarm.

"No, it's perfectly alright. I, personally, relate a lot to that song. In fact, when I was in middle school I felt it described my emotions personally."

Her reply was cut off when he heard the first few measures of the next song.

"_Oh…you touch my tra-la-la…"_

As her blush rose he quirked an eyebrow at her. "Seriously…Günther?" She made as if she was going to hit him.

"Oh shut up…I was over at Donna's house one day and it came on her MP3 player, ok?" He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Didn't know you were this perverted." He started wiggling his eyebrows and singing along with it in a deep and (seductive?) voice, startling a blush and a laugh out of her.

"Then obviously you don't know me all that well…I routinely freak out Christopher, Sarah, Ken, Donna, and others with my perverted ways. And Chris and Ken are pretty perverted." He thought back on how, at lunch, he would glance over at her table and watch her say something , and then throw her head back and laugh at the expressions on their faces. Briefly, he wished that _he_ would be the one that made her throw her head back and laugh…or scream…or moan-'_Bad Blaine, back to the conversation.'_

"How perverted can you be, hmmm?" She shot a sideways glance at him and a mischievous grin lit up her face, momentarily stunning him with how…evilly seductive she looked.

"I would tell you, but then I'd have to show you. But I seriously can't, because I have to finish my homework before everyone else gets here and practice starts."

"Awww," he pouted, "tease."

"Raunchy little devil, aren't ya?"

"Well, there's nothing you could call little about my…_ahem." _He could see that he had thrown her for a loop for a second, and then he started to worry as she recovered and smirked at him.

"Two can play that game, ya'know." She began to take of her sweatshirt, arching her back as she uncovered the clinging tank that she wore to every practice, along with her guard pajama bottoms. He took advantage of her eyes being covered to look at her…fully. He noticed that her breasts were finally in proportion to the rest of her, and that she had developed iron flat abs…His darkening blue eyes traveled over her more slowly now, from her graceful neck to where the pajama bottoms covered, then guiltily looked up to meet her laughing brown eyes. Instead of the slap -or worse- he expected, she merely threw her sweatshirt at Blaine, which hit him in the face.

He pouted. "You're meeeeeeean…I've seen you ogle my body countless times, so why can't I ogle yours?"

She smirked. "Because," she unfolded her legs and crawled over to him, sitting on his lap, "then I couldn't do this. She leaned forward and kissed him, but before he could respond the band director walked in.

"HEY! NO PDA IN THE BAND ROOM!!!" She somersaulted backwards and sprang up, blushing.

"Sorry Mr. G."

"I'm letting you off this time, Emma, because this is your first offense," and with that he stalked into his office, muttering about how stressing it was managing one-hundred plus horny teenagers in a place where there was all sorts of innuendo and such, and much more of this and he would have to retire soon-never mind the fact that it was only his sixth year of teaching.

Emma settled back down to her work, and ignored Blaine as she feverishly worked in order to get it done before everyone else came and turned the band room into chaos. Blaine kept on looking at her, having finished _his _work earlier. Finally, he grew so frustrated that he took a piece of paper, scratched something on it, and shoved it over to her. Raising her eyebrow, Emma leaned over and took it, reading it as she did so.

**Wanna go to Sidotti's or something after practice? My treat.**

Glancing over at him, she met his eyes and smiled, quickly writing her reply.

_Your car or mine?_

Sliding it over to him just as somebody arrived, they quickly gathered up their stuff and went to get their respective equipment ready, every so often glancing over at the other and smiling.

Of course, it didn't take long for Sarah and Donna to guess what happened, considering that Emma had an earsplitting grin on her face.

* * *

…And then the apocolypse happened and everyone went boom. The end. 

J/k, not really, but that's what probably would happen if RL Blaine were to ask me out.


	6. 88 Pain

**Prompt #: **88Pain

**Word Count: **5,730

**Rating: ** PG-13 for swearing and some disturbing sentences that may make disturbing thoughts materialize in your head.

**Authoress Notes: **I've been in a real cranky mood lately, because my two best friends say that I'm not allowed to like the guy that I like. (RLBlaine) So don't be surprised if drabbles not focusing on Emma and Blaine show up for a while. They'll most likely be about Donna/Alan, Sarah/Christopher, or Kassy/Dan.

So not in a good mood…I think you'll be able to tell.

Not connected to the others.

They're juniors, which means that they're going into junior year, and this takes place in the summer of 2008, a few weeks before band camp.

Oh, and if you happen to catch any errors, please tell me politely. Thanks.

BTW, I do not own the buttload of lyrics that are in this. So please don't sue.

* * *

Pain. 

That's all she's been feeling lately. Not physical pain, but who says that emotional turmoil doesn't hurt?

With a steely glare and a tight lipped mouth, she maneuvered her pickup into a spot in front of the bandroom, earlier than her usual 5:35 arrival. Removing her sunglasses from the dashboard, she put them on to provide a barrier as she hopped out of the pickup and got her guard equipment from the back.

She should have known that they'd be there.

They being her three best friends, Sarah, Kassy, and Donna, and the guy that she's not allowed to feel anything except for hate for anymore, Blaine.

Squaring her shoulders and lifting her head, she walked past him going out, nearly freezing him with the ice cold stare she shot at him as he passed.

Her determination faltered as she neared the spot where Kassy, Donna, and Sarah sat waiting, until dispair overcame her so much that she sank to the floor next to them, struggling to contain her tears.

"I-I-I can't do this. I can't not think about him. I can't forget the feelings I've had for him since first grade, both hate and love. The emotional turmoil…the inner conflict…it's eating me up inside. Even more so than before you said that I can't focus on him."

Sarah, Donna, and Kassy exchanged a glance over her shaking form, murder in their eyes. Blaine was going to have hell to pay…

Walking back into the bandroom after getting something from his motorcycle, Blaine was nearly knocked back by the tension in the air. He quickly zeroed in on where it was coming from, the corner where a flute, a sax, and a guardie held another guardie, and said flute, sax, and guardie where looking at him with murder in their eyes.

He was rudely bumped in the side as a snare player hurriedly walked past him, flashing him an angry glare as he made a beeline to the corner where his friends were, trying to comfort their weeping friend.

Then, two trumpets nearly knocked him over as they shoved him aside and also went straight to the corner. Both sat cross legged and alternately rubbed a hand over the kneeling girl's back and glared at Blaine, before one of them was distracted by the other guardie, who reached up and whispered in his ear.

Shaking his head at the strangeness of them all, Blaine turned around and bumped into Jake, who looked at him with a mix of pity and repulsion in his eyes.

"Dude, I'm torn between pitying you for what's coming to you, and being repulsed by you for what you've done to her."

"Done what to whom?" Blaine answered, staring at his best saxophone friend with a confused look on his face.

Jake shook his head. "Donna told me about all that you've done. She has it out for you for what you've done to her friend. I mean, I've been mean to Emma before, but she gives as good as she gets back to me. Has one hell of a punch, too…I mean, she can take crap from just about anyone but you. She's toughened up a lot from the sensitive bookworm back in elementary school and the first two years of middle school, but one harsh word from you and she just…wilts."

"She hides it we-"

"Well no duh. She's had lots of practice, from walking home with Kelsey and you since first grade in elementary school, stage crew with you in sixth and seventh grade, and marching band AND stage crew from eighth grade up until now. That's a decade of dealing with you and your teasing, your mocking, your bullying…She's still a sensitive girl, and her friends are finally fed up with her dying inside after every band practice with your words and such. So they've forbidden her from liking you, and with good reason. A girl like her shouldn't be hung up on an asshole like you, not when there are dozens of better guys for her right in this very band."

"Sounds like you think that you're one of them." His voice was cold.

"Me? With her? Nah. She's a cool chick, but there's no way I'd consider dating her. A, Jess would kill me, B, I'm not her type, C, have you ever seen that dad of hers? I'm surprised he hasn't punished you for your treatment of his daughter. And D, I think that if any guy tries to approach her without her friend's express permission, he'd have an instrument/weapon shoved up his ass faster than you can say overprotective."

Blaine looked down, suitably put in his place. "Alright, I get it; I've treated her like shit for the past couple of years. That shouldn't stop her from forgetting about me and getting herself a boyfriend. I've heard that Benji likes he-"

"DUDE! Emma's never had a boyfriend, turned down all that's asked her out, and trust me, it's been more than a few, and never been kissed. All because she's stuck on you. Trust me, she's tried to get over yo-" Blaine interrupted him.

"And how would you know all this? Last time I checked, you're not buddy buddy with her." There was frost in his voice.

"Blaine, it's called opening your ears and listening. Emma and Kassy come over and talk with their friends in the instruments all the time whenever there's a break, and my stuff's not all that far away from theirs.

"And as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," he shot a glare at Blaine, "she's tried to get over you. But she can't. She's written stuff about you, and trust me, it's not love letters, she associates practically every song she hears on The X with you, and trust me again, it's not happy stuff they play on that station, she's talked to more people than she can count. All have told her to forget about you and move on, but she still insists on liking you. You heard the rumors in middle school, you even had Kelsey look at her myspace for you, you should know that she's stuck on you. But you just had to be the asshole jerk and continue treating her like shit, even though she's tried numerous times to be nice to you. And you've had numerous times to be nice to her back. From backstage during musicals and concerts to during and after football games, competitions, and practices, you've had ample opportunities to be nice to her back."

"But she speaks funny sometimes and acts weir-"

Jake exploded. "Well, would you sometimes get confused or stumble over your words if you didn't talk much till seventh grade, because you didn't have friends and was always reading? And you're one to talk, considering you're in marching band, home of the weirdos. She didn't know how to act because her interactions with other people consisted of answering the teacher's questions and checking out books at the library. But she's a lot better now than back then. Joining colorguard in eighth grade has helped her blossom, but you've been like weeds and poison to her, chocking her, entwining yourself in her thoughts and holding her back from her true potential."

Glaring at Blaine, all traces of pity evaporated from his eyes, Jake added one last parting shot, one that hit Blaine in the gut as hard as if he'd been punched. "I hope you're happy for crushing a beautiful and wonderful woman, permanently damaging her. I hope to God either you make it right, or you get what's coming to you."

And with that last shot he turned and walked away, heading towards the corner with hands raised as a sign of no harm. After a hurried conference between themselves, they allowed Jake to crouch down and talk with them.

Shell shocked, Blaine went outside again and sat down on the curb, thoughts whirling around inside his head like a twister, in inner conflict and turmoil.

'_Did I really hurt her that much…She always seemed like she brushed it off, especially as we got older…I had no ide-who am I kidding. I had a good idea of what I was doing, especially when I was younger…God I'm an asshole. I've gotta make it right…But how?'_

As Emma knelt on the floor, surrounded by friends, she was lost in her own thoughts, adrift in a churning sea of thoughts, only vaguely hearing the outside world.

Snatches of conversations, of thoughts, of songs fleeted around in the swirling vortex that was her mental state.

'_And I want these words to make things right, but it's the wrongs that make the words come to life…'_

_'I want to kiss him but I want it too much I wanna love him but I better not touch cuz his lips are venomous poison…'_

_'But you really need to listen to me, because I'm telling you, I mean this, I'm okay! TRUST ME!'_

_**"Emma, you have got to forget him. You've gotta put him out of your mind. This desire, this obsession, it's burning you up. There are plenty of other guys out there that aren't assholes or dicks, why can't you like one of them?"**_

_**"**__**the most important advice is the one you choose not to follow. and yes i understand being rejected. trust me it sucks...REALLY SUX. but still, you cant keep that from moving forward. if i was still upset about john i wouldnt be with christopher now would i?"**_

'_The worst is over now, and I can breathe again, I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away…'_

_'My thoughts are so tempting, I don't know how it got so bad, sometimes it's so crazy that nothing could save me, but it's the only thing that I have…'_

_'I'd sell my soul for you babe, for money to burn with you, I'd give you all, and have none, babe, just, just, justa justa to have you here by me…'_

_"_**-gets out spray bottle- anytime you think or speakof him, ill spray you in the face with water"**

"_**Emma, you've gotta kick this habit. You're so blinded by him that you can't see the other, better guys out there that are just waiting for you to realize that you hate Blaine and never want to see him again."**_

_'In the brightest hour of my darkest day, I realized what is wrong with me, can't get over you, can't get through to you…'_

_"I hear a voice say 'Don't be so blind', it's telling me all these things…I love you I hate you I can't get around you, I breathe you I taste you I can't live without you. I just can't take this life of solitude I pick myself off the floor and now I'm done with you…"_

_"Pain without love, pain, can't get enough pain, I like it rough cause I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all…"_

Those thoughts and many more swirled around inside her head, until she shuddered and somehow made the chaos in her head disappear. Breathing deeply and slowly, she calmed herself down enough to open her eyes and look around at the faces that surrounded her.

"How are you doing?" The silent question behind the words coming out of Donna's mouth was 'Do you want us to go over there and beat up his scrawny little drummer ass for you? Or do you wanna do it yourself?'

Catching the question behind the question, Emma smiled. "Pretty well, considering the circumstances. The fire…has finally been put out." Relief was rampant on her friend's faces as they all piled on top of her to envelope her in a massive hug. "OW! Hey, you guys, I'm not unbreakable you know! Besides, I'm all bruised up from band camp!"

Grinning apologetically, they disentangled themselves from the twisted pile of limbs and helped each other up. Then they each ran to get their instruments, drill books, water jugs, etc as the band director called them to line up and go out to the field.

Falling into step besides Kassy, behind Donna and Sarah, and in front of Alan and Christopher, Emma walked right past Blaine without any reaction at all. He winced after she went past, the realization of what he'd done burning in his gut.

_'I've got to make it right…'_

After a successful run through of the show, and after the director told them to bring it in and gave out announcements, the group of friends collapsed on the hill, laughing and chatting while gathering up their junk.

"So, what do you think we should do tonight? We don't have school tomorrow, and we don't have to be at practice till four."

"Hmmm…"Emma paused while she rolled up her flags, thinking for a bit. "I say we should go to the Azul Heron and just…hang out. Dance, talk, etc. I hear they're having a DJ tonight AND it's gonna be open mike, so double the fun.

The Azul Heron was coffeeshop by day, teenage hangout by night. It was mostly frequented by those teens that didn't worship the brands of Hollister, American Eagle, etc, and weren't brainwashed by rap and the other crappy music out there today. Therefore, it was mainly visited by band and theater kids, who had a peace treaty in place on the grounds of the Azul Heron. One of its other main drawing points was that it didn't close until midnight, but it had a strict no alcohol/drugs policy. Not that those who frequented it would use them. They had a strict code of honor. Which is one of the reasons the Azul Heron hadn't been shut down yet like so many other coffeeshops/nightclubs before it.

"Excellent!" Christopher loved the place. As did the rest of the gang. Making sure they had everything, they walked back to the band room, joking and in high spirits at the prospect of making the night even funner.

None of them noticed Blaine nearby, packing up the pit's instruments and loading them onto the carts. And if they did, they paid him no attention.

'_The Azul Heron, huh? Hmmm…'_

Because she was always one of the last ones out of the band room, she told them to go without her. They left after much protest, making her swear to go there and not straight home. Laughing, she had swatted Christopher over the head and told him to scat after making a big dramatic deal out of the whole thing.

Making sure she had her keys and that everything was put away neatly, she locked the guard room and went out into the band room, picking her way through the maze of chairs, instrument cases, and other junk that seemed to automatically collect in band rooms across the country. Shifting her sabre so that it was cradled in her left arm, she opened the back of her pickup and placed it in gently. Normally she would have put it in the space behind her seat and the back of the cab, but it was full of crap.

'_One of these days I've __got__ to remember to clean that out…SHIT! I forgot my drill book! And I need it to update that dot book…shitshitshitshitshit…'_

Cursing to herself she ran into the bandroom, nearly giving the band director a heart attack as she dodged past him just as he was about to close and lock the doors.

"Emma! What on earth?"

"Sorry, G! I forgot my drill book and I need it!"

"Oh, ok. Just hurry u-good, you did. See you tomorrow."

"Bye. Say hi to Jake for me, will you?"

"Of course!" The director got into his car and drove away, waving as he turned out of the parking lot. Smiling and sighing good naturedly, she was distracted from getting into her truck by someone grabbing her and spinning her around, evading her attempts to make him let go of her.

"BLAINE? WHAT THE HELL, LET ME GO NOW!"

"Emma, listen to me, please, I'm sorry, I can expla-"

"THE HELL YOU WON'T! I'm tired of dealing with you and your shit, Blaine. I don't like you anymore. I don't think I have for a long time. It was just habit. There's no way it would ever happen, and both you and I know that. Now, I would appreciate it if you would let me go," here she wrenched away from him, glaring at him viciously, "and go get your life ruined and your heart broken. Just like you've done to me."

Glaring at him with hate in her eyes, she got into her truck and slammed the door, taking off with Hinder blasting in the stereo.

"**WHY'D YOU GO AND BREAK WHAT'S ALREADY BROKEN, I TRY TO TAKE A BREATH BUT I'M ALREADY CHOKING! HOW LONG TILL THIS GOES AWAY? **I TRY TO REMEMBER TO FORGET YOU, BUT I BREAK DOWN EVERY TIME I D-" There the words faded away as she drove out of his hearing range, but the implication was still left behind.

Staring after her and sighing, he turned to get on his motorcycle, yelling at himself for his way of approaching her.

'_Idiot…Now she's going to want to talk to you even less after that…This is going to be harder than I thought.'_

Sighing happily as she rubbed herself down with wet paper towels and changed out of her sweat soaked clothes and into the spares she kept in her truck, Emma thought back to Blaine's actions.

'_He's such an idiot, expecting me to listen to him after what he's done…Forget him, Emma, like you should have done years ago. Now, go out there and have fun with the rest of your friends. Dance. Talk to other people. Dance some more. Maybe give a couple guys your number. Dance even more. Just…forget him.'_

And that was what she did. She went out there, dressed in a favorite pair of black hip huggers that flared at the bottoms and a midnight blue halter top with gold sparkles, and had one of the best times of her life. She alternated; sitting at a table, taking a breather, talking with those who didn't want to dance, going up to request a song every other song, dancing, and looking for cute guys with…no one, actually, since every other girl in the group was involved with someone else. That's not to say they didn't try…

"How about that one over there?" Kassy shouted over the pulsing beats of Sandstorm. The girls were sitting at one of the high tables, watching -and getting aroused by- the boys dancing to the techno song, and they were purposely doing it in a way that they knew the girls were turned on by. Not just the ones in the 'herd', as Emma affectionately dubbed their group, but all the teens were doing the dance/getting aroused, whether in the herd or not.

"Which one? There are multiple guys and it's kinda hard to see details when the only light sources are glow sticks."

"Well, let me put it this way…He's tall, he's…wearing sunglasses?" Kassy shrugged and continued, "he's wearing all black, he has a blue glow stick, he's looking straight at us, and now he's walking in our direction, and now he's-"

"Introducing himself," said a deep voice, one that was not at all unpleasant. The voice belonged to a raven-haired fellow, who was indeed wearing sunglasses, but that didn't draw away from his strong features and generally drool-worthy body.

He mockingly bowed with a flourish, extending his hand out for Emma's. "I am the one known as Ace, and I noticed your beauty from across the room and was immediately drawn to it like a bee to a rose." He took her hand and kissed it, never noticing the male watching from the corner stool at the soda bar. "Would you care to dance this next dance with me?"

"Well…" Emma started to draw out the word, but was distracted by the opening measures of 'Do you love me'. Eyes lighting up, she practically dragged Ace out on the floor.

"What's her deal," Donna asked, staring at her with a puzzled expression on her face. Sarah sighed.

"She's been obsessed with that song ever since we watched Dirty Dancing at my hou-hello, handsome!" Sarah greeted Christopher, returning from the dance floor all sweaty and hard, and gave him a kiss that knocked his socks off. He immediately climbed up onto her lap and started to give her a dance, one that had her laughing so hard that she nearly fell off the chair.

Out on the dance floor, they were quickly having a space cleared around them as they lost themselves in the music, occasionally mimicking the movie but most of the time making it up as they went along. Not that you could tell.

"Wow…" Dan said, staring at the pair as they gyrated their hips to the funky beat. He cast a sidelong glance at Kassy. "Why don't we ever dance like that?"

"You, my darling," Kassy replied with a smirk, "seem to forget that I'm clumsier than Emma's sister, and that's saying something. If we tried to dance, we'd both be in the emergency room faster than you could say 'run it back'."

"Oh right…" Dan looked sheepish. "Well…there IS another type of dancing I think you could do…it doesn't require moving your feet…Are you interested?"

Kassy flashed him a look and an evil smile. "What, you think I don't have hormones? That I purely use my precious for homework? If you do, you've got another thing coming…" With that said she climbed up on top of him and put all of the stories she had ever read to good use.

The music caught Emma up in it, as it so often did, and she was only aware of the song and the body pressing itself against hers, doing things that would probably have made her blush back in 6th grade. No longer. She was just as passionate in the dance as he was, astonishing the spectators with their wild moves.

That song ended, and they went off the dance floor to thunderous applause before the next song could ensnare them like the other did.

As 'Hungry eyes' began to play, they weaved their way over to the soda bar, laughing and holding onto each other for balance.

Neither noticed the male and female, sitting at opposite ends of the bar, looking at them with narrowed eyes.

"Can we please have an iced tea and a…" Ace looked questionably at Emma.

"Water, please. I'm parched."

"So…Where'd you learn to dance like that?" Ace asked as he spun around on the stool, wound up from the energizing dance.

Emma sipped her drink, completating. "Well…I was in dance for three years, and now this is my…fourth year in color guard. It really helps to keep me moving and in shape." She shrugged. "I guess I just picked it up naturally."

He leaned forward, eyes gazing into hers, totally serious. "I was wondering…Would you like to…" He broke off, a look of utmost horror crossing over his face as he stared at someone behind Emma.

"EUGENE KLAUSE SHUFFLEBOTTOM! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT SNEAKING OUT OF THE HOUSE TO DANCE WITH TEENAGERS!!!! GET YOUR ASS IN THE CAR NOW!"

Turning to a shocked Emma, the woman embarrassedly apologized to her. "I'm terribly sorry, dearie, but he just can't control himself, not with the way he looks like a teenager and with all the dirty magazines he reads…Terribly sorry." With that she turned and dragged Ac-Eugene off by the ear, shrieking at him about the possible lawsuits they could get and how much trouble he was in.

Emma shakily sat down, her friends instantly materializing around her. "I think," she said in a shaking voice, "I'm going to need brain bleach. ASAP."

Her friends got her another drink and then left her alone, at her request, to go dance with their significant others. She groaned and buried her head in her arms, not noticing when someone got up from the end of the bar and sat down next to her.

"Hey…You ok?" The voice was low and concerned. It sounded familiar…but she couldn't place it. Either way, she didn't look up at the stranger, just shook her head no.

"Would you…like to talk about it?"

Again, she shook her head no.

"Don't worry, I'm not some creepy 40 year old man that looks like a teenager, like that last one was." There was a humorous lit to his voice, one that made it seem so familiar…but still the face eluded her grasp.

"I saw you dance out there with that guy." The stranger continued. "You were like fire…So beautiful, so passionate…so full of deadly grace I couldn't tear my eyes away. You're like that when you spin, you know."

At that she looked up, shocked. Yet she still couldn't see his face. He wore his glow stick around his wrist, and because of the pitch blackness of the club except for said glow sticks she couldn't make any details of his face out.

"You've…watched me on the field?" The words were hoarse, betraying the repressed tears she had tried not to shed.

"Oh yes. And I must say, you're light years ahead from where you were when you started. Much more confident, beautiful, graceful…And you never drop anymore."

She blushed, not that the stranger could make it out in the darkness. "Thanks…Just out of curiosity, what made you come over here?"

The stranger paused, thinking over his answer. "Well…I've seen your pose before, a girl that I've hurt a lot has been in it too many times to count…I wanted to try to get rid of some of my bad karma, make up for the times that I was a total asshole to her. And now she totally hates me, and if I tried to apologize she'd hurt me. As a matter of fact, she did. Not physically though, although she's very strong. Emotionally, mentally, though never on the scale that I've hurt her…And now I'm wracking my brains, trying to come up with a way to make her forgive me."

"Sounds like I could be the girl you're talking about…But that's impossible. To my knowledge, we've never met before. Obviously you've seen me spin, but I've never talked to you. I'd remember your voice."

The stranger jumped at the chance to lead her away from the truth. "I'm sure I'd remember if I'd talked to a lady as beautiful as you before. You're one in a million, and the asshole you're here to forget about isn't worth the turf seed you dump out of your shoes at the end of a competition."

She smiled, "now there's an analogy that I've never heard before."

His voice was sheepish. "It was all I could think of on the fly."

Her voice was teasing. "Oh, so are you 'pretty fly for a white guy'?"

"Oh, har-de-har-har. So funny I forgot to laugh."

"Are you always this immature?"

"Being around a beautiful girl makes my brain cells turn to mush."

"Ah…Nice excuse." The sarcasm was practically dripping from her voice.

"It's the truth," he protested, but she made a shushing motion with her hand as she cocked her head to one side, trying to recognize the song that was starting. Suddenly she groaned and buried her head in her arms, causing the stranger to look at her puzzled.

"What's the matter?"

_'Hello again, it's you and me, kinda always like it used to be…'_

Her voice was muffled, "ever since I first heard this song, I've always wanted to slow dance with someone to it, but now I most likely will never be able to, because apparently no one is interested in me-." She was cut off by the stranger pulling her to her feet and leading her out to the dance floor, placing her arms around his neck and his hands on her waist, pulling her close in a comforting embrace as they swayed to the music. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder, smiling slightly as she felt the music wash over her.

'_How's your life, it's been a while, God it's good to see you smile…'_

She was startled by the stranger singing along softly, tightening his embrace on her as he felt his shirt dampen with her tears.

"Shh…" The stranger comforted, trying desperately to make up for all the times that he'd screwed up, singing along to the song.

'_You wanna make a memory, you wanna steal a piece of time, you wanna sing the melody to me…'_

They slow danced in the dark, Emma finally becoming at peace with herself. As the song faded into 'You're Beautiful', the stranger cupped her chin and gently made her look up at him. She closed her eyes as he bent his head forward to capture her lips with hers, and felt her knees weaken with the amount of emotion he was trying to pour into her. Sadness, regret, determination…all those and scores more flowed from his mouth to hers. Then, at the end, came a few new emotions. Peace, love, happiness…and passion.

"Oh…" She would never forget this first kiss, and he made her come close to that by kissing her again, this time rougher, yet still gentle, and showing her the other side of the kissing spectrum. His tongue ran along her lips, asking for entrance, which she tentatively opened, granting him permission. He immediately made her cling tighter to him by the sheer force of sensations he was causing, all through the use of his tongue in her mouth.

Then she grew bold and started exploring his mouth. He was surprised at how fast she caught on, despite never kissing anyone before.

Eventually the need for air drove them apart, gasping for breath.

"Wow…"

He grinned cockily at her. "How was that for your first and second kiss?"

"Ab-so-luet-ly fricken amazing."

"Well then, how about a third?" He kissed her softly this time, a kiss of sorrow and regret. "I'm sorry for all that I've done to you…will you ever be able to forgive me?"

"Forgive you? But I've only just…met…you…" Her voice faltered as he brought up his glowstick to illuminate his face. "No…" He could practically see her start to shut down, trying to process the information her brain had just received… "No, no, no, NO!" She wailed, shoving him away. "I try to forget about you, but you can never stop haunting me, can you, Blaine? Is it your lifelong dream, driving me over the edge? Because guess what, Blainey-boy, you've done it. Congratulations."

She turned and fled out the door, with him hot on her heels. There was no way he was going to let her escape this time without letting him explain …

"YOU ASSHOLE! GIVE ME MY KEYS BACK!" Emma flew at him, but the combination of a long and hard band practice and the various range of emotions she had gone through lessened her ability to fight well.

Blaine smirked, having picked her pocket while slow dancing. Then his eyes widened and he hurriedly caught a fist that was on a collision course with his nose.

"Whoa there, girlie. There's no way I'm gonna let you leave without a full-out heart to heart, something we should have done years ago. So, there's a couple ways we can do this. The easy way, which is where you come quietly and promise not to rip my balls off and feed them to your psychotic mongrels until we've talked-and I've gotten a five minute head start-, or the hard way, which is when I pick you up, duct tape you to my motorcycle, and ride away to a place where we can talk. I prefer the first one, because then I won't get charged with kidnapping, but it's your call." He leaned against the pickup truck, watching as emotions visibly flitted over her face, pitting one side of her against the other.

"Fine," she finally spat out. "But on a couple conditions."

"Name them."

"One, I go back in there, tell my friends to take my truck home and that I'm going somewhere to talk to you, and I'll always have my cell phone on. If I don't call them to tell them that I'm turning it off, and they try to call me and no one picks up or it's off, I'm going to tell them to call the police."

"I accept that. Any others?"

She glared. "Yes. Two, no funny business. No trying to cop a feel, or sneak a peek. This arrangement is purely business. I expect we'll make up a truce or something until we graduate, and then go our separate ways and forget about each other."

"Fine. Whatever. Can we go now? I feel…exposed like this." He fidgeted as she looked around the near empty parking lot, smirking as she took in the oh-so-dangerous hot pink punch bug in the far back corner.

"You're right. That punch bug might be hiding Jack the Ripper, come back to kill us all in a horrible and cruel manner!" He winced at the acidity of the sarcasm in her voice.

"Oh, how you wound me with your cruel and demeaning words."

"Payback's a bitch, and revenge is a dish best served cold." Her eyes flashed as they met his; silently reminding him of all the years of torment she had suffered because of him.

"Point. Get going and let your friends know where you're going, and we'll hit the road. Make sure you wear a warm jacket, it gets pretty cold sometimes."

"Fine." She headed back inside, back ramrod straight.

_I don't know what's worth fighting for  
Or why I have to scream  
I don't know why I instigate  
And say what I don't mean  
I don't know how I got this way  
I know it's not alright  
So I'm breaking the habit  
I'm breaking the habit  
Tonight_

He sighed.

_I think you can do much better than me  
After all the lies I made you believe  
Guilt kicks in and I start to see  
You deserve much better than me  
_

* * *

Well, kudos to you if you managed to follow along with this. Originally, I planned for this to be much longer, but I changed my mind.

And with me taking so long inbetween starting this and finishing it, I've cooled down and actually understood why my friends have done what they did. And I'm grateful for that.

This…was an emotional piece for me to write. I feel like I'm actually saying goodbye to him and my feelings for him, putting all my emotions into this piece. So now I'm pretty much at peace with myself, and I'm going to enjoy band as much as possible and try to go out with a really sweet and nice baritone player.

I am still on the rifle line, surprisingly, and the band's light years ahead of where we were (drill wise, music wise, etc) last year, so that's pleasing the staff.

Feature in the next drabble if you can name the all the names and artists of the songs in here.


	7. 10: Breathe Again

Prompt: #10 Breathe Again

Word Count: 579

Rating: K

Authoress notes: I know I've been lacking in updates, and I'm truly sorry for that. I have a lot of ideas for the prompts; it's just a matter of getting them down.

This drabble is based on my own band, and how I remember November 10th, 2007, as my own band shattered all of our previous records, with a second place finish with a score of 97, the highest we've ever placed in the history of my school.

And while I miss the 2007 season with passion, what with all that happened during it, I am eagerly and impatiently awaiting the start of our 2008.

If you care to see my band's performance, check out my profile. I'll have a link up before I get around to posting this, most likely.

I guess this is part one of a two-shot, mostly because there's another prompt I want to use this night as a basis for, so I'll get going on that one as soon as I finish up with this. It will also further explain about Ethan Gladstone…

* * *

The crowd was roaring, swelling to its feet as the famous Oak Point Marching Band approached its climatic ending of their 2007 field show for the last time.

The guard poured out all of their emotion into the final sixty-four counts of work, as they had been doing for the entire show. Making the transition from intensive and focused, to compassionate and caring, to fun and upbeat had required every breath in their body, as they preformed their emotions up to the audience and the press box, where inside its heated interior sat the judges who would decide what place they were going to receive, if they were going to beat the long-time champion or not.

The winds literally became one with their instrument, pouring every single breath into the object that had been the focus of most of their life. Concentrating on the music they could play in their sleep, they executed their complicated final drill movements to arrive at their final moment.

Popping up the instruments.

A dizzying combination of moves that spun the turquoise flag around and up into the air.

Blasting the audience with a wall of sound.

Stepping in front of their airborne flag and striking a final pose.

The entire band screamed as one as soon as their instruments left their mouths, leaving one last aerial effect for the audience to remember as they filed into their lines and marched off the field to the cadence, shakily breathing as their adrenaline high wore off.

The guard raced to collect the hundred-plus flags and twenty or so rifles before they went over the time limit and cost the band their rightful place.

Hurriedly dropping their equipment in a pile by the gate, the guard ran to meet up with the band for the pictures.

Never mind that it was after midnight, never mind that it had been a long and exhausting day, there were still people chatting excitedly, after they had caught their breaths from the intensive show.

* * *

Emma, dressed now in her purple warm up suit (Why purple? Their school's colors weren't even purple!) and still freezing, desperately wishing she had some hand warmers or a hot chocolate or…_him_ to warm her up.

Under the pretense of listening to Kathy, she let her brown eyes travel past her shoulder to the guy sitting next to her, debating something with Blaine as their rival band filled in the rest of the stands next to them.

Ethan Gladstone.

For a second he turned to look at her, making the briefest of eye contact before standing up with the rest of the bands as the drum majors and seniors of all the group three bands began to make their way across the field.

She felt her breath catch in her chest, belatedly scrambling up and having to grab onto Kathy for balance.

* * *

The entire band held their breath as the last twenty places were announced, the judges starting with the lowest and working their way up.

They had slightly relaxed as the thirteenth place was announced, reminded of their placing last year, but tensed right up again as the tenth position was announced.

Standing tall, their instruments held tightly to their sides, they waited with baited breath as the judges began to announce the top five group three bands on the Atlantic Coast, on that cold November night, the clock ticking away the minutes past midnight…

Waiting for the moment they could breathe again…

* * *

A/N: Yes, I know I'm evil. But I have a plan for all of this. Don't worry; I'll follow this up soon with the second part, a semi-songfic. 


End file.
